This week, a charming little story was reported on by the Daily Post UK about the fight a boutique sex shop waged to have the right to sell their wares in the oh-so-British town of Barmouth. It was a reminder, that though much of the adult industry has moved to the more accepting world of the Internet there are still a few brave souls out there waging war on the streets to exercise their right to sell what is perfectly legal out of a real live store.
Eva Amour, which is a great name for an adult store by the way – it sounds like an old-time glamorous movie star fluttering her eyelashes in a slinky negligee and purring – is the unassuming shop that brought kinky fun to a sleepy seaside town known more for its church dinners and charity stores.
Over a decade ago, the owners, David Powley and his husband, Danny Miller started their erotic shop by the same name online. They got the idea after attending an adult convention where they realized they could “provide less expensive products at the high end of things.” It was successful and they opened a brick-and-mortar version of the store in Wrexham to save rent on warehousing their products. Having a retail operation was just a side bonus.
Which brings us to now. After visiting the Welsh tourist town of Barmouth they decided to move the shop because they loved the area. Not as simple as they thought it would be. Not everyone was so happy to have Eva Amour right in their backyard.
In this day and age, you would think we’d be past any controversy with an adult store opening its doors for business. After all, you can buy porn just about anywhere, just about any time you’d like, online. What makes the controversy even more surprising is you wouldn’t expect the Brits to have issues with an erotic boutique. It’s us uptight Americans who are plagued with puritanical values not the liberal Europeans, right?!
Wrong. Turns out, those “values” are alive and well in Barmouth which confirms that there’s people everywhere who stigmatize the adult industry not just the good ole USA.
Though Eva Amour got some love from townsfolk with open minds, they still had to deal with a shocking 82 letters of objection when they applied for their license – the most the Barmouth town council had ever received. To give these party poopers some props at least most of the mail was not about being morally offended but genuine concern that allowing a sex shop (no matter how upscale the owners claimed it would be) would affect the wholesome resort town’s reputation.
Nearly denied of being granted a license, Powley and Miller raised some compelling arguments, namely that they already owned the building, and they’d do it anyhow. They even warned that if the town was so stubborn as to stand in their way, they’d really embarrass them: “If the council doesn’t grant us a license, then… the window display and indeed the name above the shop would not have the checks and balances offered by a license. Effectively we could then use this to display products, advertise our other more risqué and racy online businesses as long as we don’t break the law. I must point out that this is NOT what we ever want to do.”
Maybe not, but great strong-arming tactic!
In the end, Eva Amour got its way (though they’re still wrangling other red tape regulations that have been put on hold), and their erotic boutique opened – just opposite from the Christ Presbyterian Church.
So, next time you feel yourself getting worked up as a business owner at all the discrimination from legislatures, social media companies, payment processing businesses, and more, just remember it could be worse, at least you’re doing business on-line, which is still easier any way you cut it than opening a store in a conservative little pocket of the world.
“Come In We’re Open” image by Amina Filkins and Toy Bag Image from Anna Shvets – Pexels
